God Wants Your Dreams to Flourish!

Ever noticed how parents watching their children perform see only their child among dozens on stage? That singular focus mirrors how God sees each of us – with undivided attention and unwavering love. 

He created you with purpose, equipping you with unique talents and abilities meant to be used, not hidden away. Scripture repeatedly emphasizes prosperity – not barely surviving, but genuinely thriving. "Prosper wherever you go" isn't just a nice sentiment; it's divine intention for your life. Yet many of us allow our gifts to atrophy, making excuses about time when we all have the same 24 hours daily. The universal truth remains: if you don't use it, you lose it.

Perhaps the most profound lesson comes from watching babies learn to walk. They attempt, fail, fall, and try again repeatedly until they succeed. No baby ever decides walking isn't for them and resigns to crawling forever. Yet as adults, we often try something new once or twice and, at the first sign of difficulty, convince ourselves it "isn't for us." We become quick to abandon dreams when obstacles appear. The reality? You will fail. Things will knock you down. Sometimes you'll feel like you're going backwards before moving forward. But just as diamonds require pressure to form from coal, your greatest growth occurs through adversity.

God wants your dreams to flourish. Your loved ones want your dreams to manifest. The question is: how badly do you want it? Your time here is limited, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed – only the decisions you make today can shape the future you desire. 

"Dream with courage, chase with faith."

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to the Dream Chaser Show
• 1:02 The Christmas Rehearsal Story
• 5:44 God's View of Prosperity
• 8:51 Using Your God-Given Talents
• 13:32 Brain Teaser Segment
• 16:23 The Baby Walking Lesson
• 23:10 Episode Closing and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to the Dream Chaser Show. Our mission is to inspire and improve the lives of those who dare to chase their dreams. Here's your host, Eric Heidrich.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome back to the show everyone. I'm your host, eric Heidrich, and our mission is to inspire and improve the lives of those who dare to chase their dreams. Before we get started today, I want to invite you to connect with us. This show is all about building a community where we can share ideas and inspire one another. So whether you have some feedback on an episode, some questions, or you just want to share your experiences, we want to hear it. The best way that you can reach out to us is by opening your podcasting app and, in the show notes at the very top, click the link that says send us a text. Again, that will be in the show notes at the very top and it says send us a text. So let's connect and build this Dream Chasers community together.

Speaker 2: 1:02

All right, so today I want to start off by telling you a story. This was a few months ago. This was at a Christmas rehearsal for church. We are in this auditorium and up at the front we've got a stage and there's a youth leader up there and she's got all the kids lined up, and these kids are anywhere from three years old which is how old my daughter is up to probably 10. So we've got all these kids up on stage and this is for Christmas. So they're they're decked out. I mean they're wearing green and red and they're holding these big candy cane sticks and what they're going to be doing is doing a show for everybody in the audience, a Christmas show. So they're practicing for the very first time. My daughter's never been up there, and so you've got kids up there that are nervous. Some are playing with each other and talking.

Speaker 2: 1:54

The youth pastor. She's trying to get everyone to calm down. So she says, shh, everybody, everybody, right, it's like trying to wrangle cats. They're just everywhere, and so she's trying to get them all on the same page. So she tells them to calm down and listen up and all that, and then they finally chill out a little bit. And then they're watching her and she's telling them these are the moves we're going to do. Take your candy cane, put it in the air. She's telling them to do these different acts and most of the kids are getting it by now. Most of them are able to at least reenact what she's doing.

Speaker 2: 2:28

Well, you look over at my daughter and she has decided that it'd be a good idea to take her candy cane and use it as a jousting weapon to poke this poor kid next to her. So she's antagonizing this kid, poking him and the poor dude's getting all pissed off. And I'm in the back, got my hands over my face and just thinking like, oh my goodness, what is going on here? But at the same time I'm laughing and I'm having a good time watching her and I'm just up there kind of soaking in this moment. This is something I'm going to remember forever.

Speaker 2: 3:01

It's one of those moments where you're looking up at someone, you love seeing them do something and you kind of have this moment of pride. Of course, I had a moment of embarrassment as well, but I'm just watching this all play out and I think, as parents, we look at our kids during these moments in life. They're the only ones that we see. When we're in the audience, there's a ton of other kids up there. Whether it's a football game, a musical, whatever they're doing, our kids are the only ones that we see, the ones that we are focused in on. Sometimes we're beaming with pride and sometimes we're hiding our face in laughter and embarrassment, but they are the only ones that we see. And if you don't have kids in your life, think about a time when you were a child. During one of these moments, put yourself back in that football game or that talent contest or that Christmas choir. Who did you look for when you looked out in the audience? Did you care about all the other people looking back at you, or were you looking for one or two specific people in that audience, just zeroing in looking for them?

Speaker 2: 4:15

I saw this short little video the other day of this little kid. It was kind of a before and after. It was like a kid up on stage doing this choir thing and it was before his parents showed up. He was really nervous. He was kind of kid up on stage doing this choir thing and it was before his parents showed up. He was really nervous. He was kind of playing with his hands and you could tell he was just uneasy and anxious. And then it showed his mom walk in and at first he doesn't notice her. She sits down and he's still kind of up there fumbling around. He's looking around. All of a sudden, when he sees her, his eyes light up and he gets this big old grin across his face, from cheek to cheek, and he is just happy and it was like all of his fears washed away.

Speaker 2: 4:54

And now let's go back to that moment in time that I told you to picture in your mind, where you were at this performance and you were looking out into the audience. When you finally see that one or two people your mom or your dad or your friend, maybe it was an uncle, just somebody who showed up for you how did you feel when you saw them? What was the expression in their face? You can see it very clearly, can't you? You know exactly that they were thinking about you and how they felt about you and what they hoped for you. They wanted the best for you. They want you to succeed and prosper and do well, and even if you don't, even if you fall flat on your face, they're still there for you. Almost all of us listening to this have somebody like that in our lives, and you know what's kind of crazy. That's the same way that God sees you. This is how he feels about you. He wants you to prosper in all aspects of life, including spirituality, financially, physically, your relationships, what you're doing with your job, where you're headed to in the future.

Speaker 2: 6:10

In fact, scripture mentions prosperity and abundance multiple times. In Genesis it says God has blessed me abundantly, not just a little bit abundantly. In Joshua it says I am strong and courageous, I turn not to the left or right and I prosper wherever I go. I prosper wherever I go. If you're not familiar with what the word prosper means, by the way, it means do very well. It doesn't mean just get by very well. It doesn't mean just get by. It doesn't mean I'm just making it just barely. No, it means doing well. In Jeremiah it says God plans to prosper his people and not harm them. He plans to give them hope and a future. Deuteronomy says obey God and we may live long and prosper. Deuteronomy says obey God and we may live long and prosper. It goes on and on like this. Remember that God created you. He created you.

Speaker 2: 7:14

Now think about some times where you've created something. When you create something, don't you tend to care about it a little bit more? Don't you watch it a little more? Spend more time thinking about it? Because you're invested in it. You're the one who made it. So, for example, we can create music, we can create food, we can create art, a house, clothing, a strategy, a business, a video, a post on social media. Side note, whenever I create a post or a video, I always go back and look and see how it's doing. Right? That's what we do. We go and see. Do we have likes? Are there comments? Because we created it, we're invested in it.

Speaker 2: 8:00

And, by the way, all of the things I mentioned before, they have different names for them. Creating music, we call playing an instrument. Creating food, we call cooking. Creating a house, we call building or construction. But it doesn't matter what you call it. What you're actually doing is creating, and when you create something, you're highly invested in it. We care about it a lot more because we've spent time making it and we've poured our heart and soul into it. And that's how God looks at you Now. He gave you some special things, some talents, some unique skills that only you possess, and dang it. You better use them.

Speaker 2: 8:44

Scripture tells us specifically that you were given gifts and you should use them. In Romans it says If your gift is prophesying, then prophecy in accordance with your faith. If your gift is serving, then serve. If it's teaching, then teach. If it's to encourage, then give encouragement. If it's to give, then give generously. If it's to lead, lead diligently. If it's to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Speaker 2: 9:14

I want to pause right here and just explain something. What it's doing here is saying there are tons of gifts, tons, probably endless gifts and you, right now, listening to this, have some sort of gift. You might know what it is and you might be using it, which is great. Keep using it, keep fostering it, keep building it, use it. But you might also not know what it is. Or maybe you have a pretty good clue, but you're like man, I don't know. I haven't used it in a while. I'm a little scared to use it. Maybe there's something in the back of your mind you've been wanting to do forever and you know that you're gifted in it, but you have these different things piling up, these excuses, these reasons not to do it, these fears. What if I fail? What will others think? You have a gift that you're kind of holding on to, but you're not showing it to the world, and so I want to tell you this If you've got a talent, get out there and use it, use your skills and your talents. Let them serve you and fulfill you, so that you wake up every day with life and vigor. Life and vigor.

Speaker 2: 10:44

One of the things that I love personally is doing this, where I get to speak into people's lives and try to help where I can. I just love it. It makes me feel so alive. And I just want to tell you, prior to doing this, I remember a lot of the days where I would wake up just kind of in a fog, just going through the motions, not really sure what my purpose is or why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm just doing it to pay the bills, to feed myself, my family. I'm just going through those motions. But once I decided I'm going to use this thing, that I really enjoy doing this thing where I'm speaking and trying to help people and trying to inspire and trying to encourage, once I start doing that, actually really living it, I woke up every day with vigor. I still do there. You know I have my ups and downs, for sure, but I still do.

Speaker 2: 11:38

A lot of times it's like Christmas morning for me and I want you to know that you can have that too, and the way to do it is to use your God-given talents and skills. Make sure that you don't let them waste away and rot, because there's a special law of nature that says this if you don't use it, you lose it. If you don't use it, you lose it. Now we see it all the time, don't we Girl says I used to be really into dancing, but I haven't danced in years, I just don't have time for it.

Speaker 2: 12:17

And to that I say don't buy into the. I don't danced in years, I just don't have time for it. And to that I say don't buy into the I don't have time excuse. We all have time, right. We just choose to use it in certain ways. And I'm going to be real with you.

Speaker 2: 12:31

I used to buy into that excuse. I don't have time to do X, y and Z. I don't have time to read. I don't have time to make healthy food or work out or set goals or do this thing that I want to do. I just don't have time because I have all these other things taking my time. I used to use that a lot until I realized something. We all have the same amount of time. No one on this planet is blessed with more than 24 hours in a day. No one on this planet is blessed with more than 24 hours in a day. You see, it's not about the amount of time, it's how we use it. That's important. So don't let it waste away. And nowadays it's easy to let it waste away. With social media, tv shows, video games. There's so many distractions around us. It's important to remember that if you don't use it, you lose it.

Speaker 2: 13:32

This is the Brain Teaser segment, where we put your thinking skills to the Brain Teaser segment. I got a lot of really good feedback last time we did this. People seem to really enjoy it, so we're going to keep rolling with it. Now, in this segment, it's all about creativity and having the ability to think outside the box. After all, if we want to chase our dreams and our purpose, we need to be able to think clearly, have fresh ideas and build that mental fortitude for when things get challenging because they will. So here's how this works. I'm going to tell you a brain teaser and then give you some time to think about it. Really, try to think about the answer too. Try to figure it out and if you need some time, go ahead and pause the recording. Once you think you got the answer, hit play and let's see if you got it right. Remember, what we're trying to do here is build creativity. So let's get started.

Speaker 2: 14:34

First question what do you throw out when you want to use it, but take it in when you don't want to use it. What do you throw out when you want to use it, but you take it in when you don't want to? Here comes the answer An anchor All right. Next question what travels throughout different states and cities but never moves? What travels throughout different states and cities but never moves? Here comes the answer A road Alright.

Speaker 2: 15:29

Last question this one's a little bit crazy. If you rip its skin off, it won't cry, but you will. If you rip its skin off, it won't cry, but you will. If you rip its skin off, it won't cry, but you will. Here comes the answer An onion. I don't know about you, but I'm not the cook in the family, but about a week ago I, finally was the one that was prepping the dinner and I had to chop an onion, and anytime I ever have to do that, even if I'm around them, I start crying. Hopefully you had fun with that game. We're going to bring it back on the next episode, so if you didn't do so well, you'll be able to try again. Let's get back to the message.

Speaker 2: 16:23

I want to talk about one more thing and this kind of revolves this is another story around my kids. Have you ever noticed that when you look at babies, they are so interesting to watch? I've taken our kids multiple places, but wherever we go and I'm telling you, it does not matter if we're in a grocery store, a restaurant, the park, it doesn't matter where we're at People come up to us and they just look at our baby and they just shine and they watch her and they tell us how cute she is and they interact with her. People just love babies and it's because they're so interesting to watch, they're so curious, they're so intrigued by everything around them, so interested by one specific thing that they will just continuously try to grab it. Anyone that's ever dealt with babies knows what I'm talking about. They will go and go and go, man, like they're on a mission to grab it. Anyone that's ever dealt with babies knows what I'm talking about. They will go and go and go, man. They're on a mission to grab and reach and touch and play with this specific thing. Even if you don't want them to touch it and play with it, they will just keep coming back to it and keep trying until they finally get it or somebody gets it for them.

Speaker 2: 17:35

And just the other day I was watching my daughter, rosie, trying to stand and walk. I think she was about six months old at the time. She was completely trying to just skip the whole crawling deal and go right towards walking, and I thought about this for a while, and I found it kind of interesting how a baby will continue to try walking until they finally do it. Anybody listening to this right now ever heard of or seen a baby? Just never walk. They just decide no, walking is not for me, I'm going to crawl for the rest of my life. It'd be a pretty interesting thing to see, though, wouldn't it? We'd have all these people, grown adults, crawling around. I don't know why, but for whatever reason, I picture being at a restaurant and you got these servers crawling around on the floor serving your food. It'd be weird, right? You've never heard of a baby just giving up and saying ah, this walking thing isn't for me, I think I'll just crawl. Of course not. They keep going, they keep trying. They keep standing up and falling down. Sometimes they fall backwards, hit their heads, sometimes they're just not having it right, they're sick that day, whatever, but they keep trying and they keep coming back for more, until one day they finally walk. So I thought about this.

Speaker 2: 18:56

Why is it that, as adults, we rarely try something new more than one time? We say we want change or we want to do this thing, we want to wake up earlier, we want to get in shape, we want to be a better father, mother, husband, wife, we want to invest our money, we want to stop wasting our time, we want, we want, we want and we say we want to chase our dreams or do this thing, but we rarely try it more than one or two times. And the moment struggle, setbacks. And the moment struggle, setbacks, adversity or failure shows up at our doorstep. We have a tendency to throw our hands up and say, ah, maybe this thing isn't for me, maybe this walking thing isn't for me. Now, forgive my language here, but what the hell is with that? Since when did we become so quick to just give up on ourselves? Let me tell you something right now.

Speaker 2: 20:05

You have greatness in you. You have the ability to pick yourself up. You have the ability to do something new. You have the ability to get back up and go towards that thing that you have envisioned for yourself. In fact, I don't think you should walk, I think you should be running, because our time here is short. We hear that all the time, but we rarely really think about this. How short our time truly is. It can cut off tomorrow. In fact, there really is no such thing as tomorrow. It's a man-made concept. All that really exists is here and now and the decisions that you make now. Think about how often we say tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll start this, tomorrow I'll do that. Tomorrow's the day we become a tomorrow person. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, but now is Right. Now. You have the ability to drastically affect your future Drastically by making decisions and actions right now.

Speaker 2: 21:21

And one last thing I want to tell you is that you are going to fail. Spoiler alert you're going to fail. You're going to fall Just like the baby. Things will knock you down.

Speaker 2: 21:37

Sometimes it'll feel like you're going backwards before you can go forward. If I were with you right now, I'd be like you ever felt that way, because I have. I feel that way all the time. I feel like sometimes I'm going backwards, but sometimes that's what happens. You cannot get the polished stone without giving it a little bit of friction.

Speaker 2: 22:00

A diamond doesn't just show up as a diamond, it starts out as a piece of coal. But the way for it to become a diamond is to be under immense pressure. Pressure, adversity, struggle those are the things that make you great. The only way that you're going to make it forward, the only way that you're going to attain any vision that you have for your future, is to keep getting back up during those times. Keep getting up. You're going to have to work for it harder than you've ever been working, and don't just expect it to happen for you without you first planting the seed and watering and cultivating and taking care of your crops.

Speaker 2: 22:46

You've got to want that dream as bad as a baby wants to walk. Your kids want that dream for you. Your loved ones want that dream for you. God wants that dream for you. The question is, how bad do you want it? That's going to do it for this episode of the Dream Chaser Show. Now I have a quick favor to ask you If you've ever gotten any value from this show and you haven't already. Please leave us a review and share the show with one person. It just takes a couple of seconds, but it really goes a long way in helping us create even better messages and shows the world that what we're doing here is actually valuable. Also, don't forget, you can contact us by clicking the send us a text link at the top of the show notes in your podcast app. We'd love to hear from you.

Speaker 1: 23:53

Thanks for listening and remember. Dream with courage, chase with faith.